Final Fantasy: Seven Meets Nine
by Thief Rikku
Summary: What really happened after Meteor and Holy clashed? What would it be like if the characters from ff7 met up with the characters from ff9? Then read this. .
1. What really happened after

Final Fantasy: Seven Meets Nine

Author's note: Yo. Even though this fanfic is pretty long, it really has no point to it. I did it just out of sheer boredom. So I expect you guys are just reading it for the fun of it or because you were bored too. It's FF7 meeting FF9. I came up with this wacky idea of having Cloud and his gang get a taste of the FF9 world, Gaia. Yeah yeah, it's weird and sounds pretty stupid but whatever. I just felt like doing it. In the beginnig, it starts right after Holy and Meteor meet. I wrote this a year ago, right before there was news leaked out about Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children so yah. (rubs back of head) All I can say is that it is completely different than AC's storyline. This is the first ever fanfic that I made that lasted this long (but is still incomplete) and it's also the first ever fanfic that I've posted on the Net for others to read. I have to warn you though... I don't go into much details into anything in here to describe people or places or things. Too lazy, to be honest with you. The story has a tendency to drag on very slowly, further supporting my statement of how pointless this fanfic truly is. Lots of flashbacks & memories and false theories/misleading conceptions of scientific facts and that of final fantasy 7's. In addition, I tried to make it feel like an IN-GAME kind of story, so you'll be reading through a lot of gestures and actions done by the characters. Tried to keep them in character as much as I could (as much as I know about each character). The only problem here is that it's been quite awhile since I played the game. heh heh hehh I'm a Cloti fan so I touch up on their friendship very very often and where it could possible go. (wink wink)

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Chapter 1 "What Really Happened After"

A big flash spread far and out, reaching to the other end of the planet. Green orbs started to flow out from the ground, circling up to the black sky. Holy had defeated the Meteor. The world had been saved. Cid's mouth was agape, letting his cigar burn, sitting at the bottom of his lip. But soon he regained the power to speak,

"DAMN! I can't believe we actually survived this $&!#!!!"

Yuffie, who was sitting in a corner, crouched with her knees to her chest, ceased her shaking and whimpering, letting her hands part away from her face.

"You bluffin'?!"

She got up and looked out through the huge window of the airship.

"Hey! You weren't! We survived! Most importantly, **I** survived!!"

Vincent was silent. Cait Sith jumped up and down with joy. Red XIII let out a sigh of relief and bowed his head in thankfulness.

"Yer lucky to be alive, you got that!" Barret called back at Yuffie, "Yeh pesky little piece of $&#&!!" He let out a gruff smile. "What do you guys say we go out an' celebrate?"

Cid just got out of the storage room with a pack of beers, "No need to go out. Ain't no better place to celebrate than the Highwind!!"

Everyone gathered around to grab a beer, Yuffie sneaking in to grab one unnoticed. Vincent stayed where he sat and closed his eyes, deciding a nap would be better.

No one noticed Cloud and Tifa. Tifa watched him intently. It was quite obvious what he was planning to do. Celebrating was far off of what was on his mind. Cloud was staring outside, as if on the moon.

Suddenly, hundreds of green orbs were flying up to the heavens. Both went out to see what was going on.

"What is all this?" Tifa asked, looking all around her.

"Energy bubbles... The Lifestream's spirit," he replied softly.

They both looked up to find that the green orbs were circling around eachother up in the air.

Cloud's face hardened, "They're... using up their energy..."

The energy bubbles soon enough were moving around and circling eachother at lightning speed. There was a green flash that rumbled the earth like it did when Holy and Meteor clashed. Cloud and Tifa, blinded by the light, put up their arms to protect their eyes.

Vincent opened his eyes and the whole party inside the Highwind ceased their drinking festivity.

"Yo what the $&# is goin' on now?!" Barret roared, angry that his celebration was interrupted so abruptly.

They all looked outside and gasped. There was no night sky up above. Instead, it looked like a green, swirl.

"What in the world!!! The hell is that?!" Cid stated.

Outside, Cloud and Tifa, both heads snapped back, were staring at this... new sky, perhaps? Red XIII ran out and joined them.

"Well, it's not exactly a sky of new colour."

Tifa looked at Nanaki, "What do you mean? "

"I can feel a strong energy wave from it. Perhaps it's a portal. To where, I do not know."

Cloud sighed and looked down on the ground. "I can feel it, too."

Red XIII's tail wagged gently back and forth, in deep thinking. "I shall go back to Cosmo Canyon immediately. Maybe Bugenhagen's contraption might give us some idea of what's going on," he said and swiftly ran back to the Highwind.

Tifa looked at Cloud. This was something quite new. She wondered whether he planned to find out what this portal was or to see Aeris. She waited eagerly for his next move. He was still looking at the ground.

Without looking at her, he spoke, "I can still feel her presence... But it's weak." He shook his head. "Why?"

Tifa said nothing. The Highwind's power engine turned on and Tifa looked back at it, then to the blonde haired man.

"We should be going now," she told him. He didn't say anything but simply headed towards the big, flying vehicle at a slow pace, with Tifa behind him.


	2. Introducing the Bugenhagen Wannabe

Chapter 2 "Introducing the Bugenhagen wannabe"

"Firs', I'm gonna go get Marlene," Barret said, "Wonder how she's been holdin' up."

Tifa went up to him and put one hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure she's fine." He looked at her and gave a nod.

The crew arrived on Kalm to pick up Marlene.

"I saw Aeris in the sky. She was an angel," she told them.

"Did she say anything to you?" Cloud asked.

Marlene looked at him. "Yes. She said that Holy saved the world. Annnd..."

She paused. "Something about the Lifestream and the Promised Land."

Cloud looked up at the green, swirly sky. _Maybe I can find her there,_ he thought to himself.

"Awright. Let's go ter Cosmo Canyon. I wanna know what's goin' on right now!" Barret said.

The Highwind landed just outside of Nanaki's home. They all went right up to Bugenhagen's house.

"Ho ho hoooo," a peculiar old man said, which startled the group. Out popped out someone who resembled like Bugenhagen. He greeted them, a glint of delight in his eyes, "The heroes who took part in stopping it from being the end of the world... I'm in the middle of observing the results. I'm sure that's what you people came here for."

"Uhh...." Red XIII begun, "...Who are you?"

This question made the Bugenhagen impersonator jump. "Why, Nanaki. I'm your grandfather, that's who I am!"

The red lion looked at Cloud, who simply shrugged and said, "Just play with the old geezer." (note: Bugenhagen died so I decided to bring in a Bugenhagen wannabe into the picture haha!)

"Ahem! Anyways.. Proceeding on. You people want to know the news I came across?"

They all nodded, obeying him and playing along with this imposter who, surprisingly, made a good Bugenhagen. "Well then. Let's go up into my contraption. Ho ho hoooo. Up we go!" the old man said.

When they went into the contraption, there were nine spherical glows, representing the nine planets. But Earth did not seem to look like it normally did. It looked twice its size.

"Yes. That is where our planet is. But it's not quite entirely earth itself."

Everyone was puzzled.

"Here, let me show you..."

A light shone from inside the model planet, revealing another spherical object inside.

"THAT is Earth. It seems that we have become the core of the planet that's layered over us."

Red XIII shook his head in disbelief, "How so...? Impossible."

"Ho ho hoooo, well, my grandson. Even the impossible can happen," Bugenhagen replied, "I haven't been doing a thorough research into this situation, but I do know that the sky is a portal to the world covering ours."

"I do believe," Bugenhagen continued, "that there are lifeforms living up above us. Those lifestream energy bubbles are souls. It might be possible that when Holy and Meteor collided together, it formed a cycle of life, seeing as how Holy represents birth and life and Meteor, an epitome of destruction and death. When they meet, it forms a new kind of energy that attracts and magnetizes the lifestream thus the feasibility of reincarnation becomes true. Ho ho hoooo."

This new piece of insight took awhile for everyone to digest.

"I guess the only option for us is to explore the place then," Nanaki stated.

"Ho ho hoooo. Always thriving for new adventure!" Bugenhagen said. "I warn you though. About the sky portal... There may be a way in, but there's a possibility that there might not be a way out. And what's up ahead does not guarantee your safety. It could be really dangerous."

Red XIII lowered his head in disappointment, "Then I'm afraid that I cannot go. I will not leave my tribe and you, grandfather. I put my homeland first."

"Ho ho hoooo. Nanaki, you are too faithful," Bugenhagen told him, "But if it is that you so desire, then that will be."

Cloud stepped up, "Then I will go."

Tifa looked at him and saw determination in his eyes. "Me too."

Cloud turned to look at her and nodded, then faced Bugenhagen who begun to say, "Ho ho hoooo. Is there anyone else?"

Barret seemed unsure. "I can't leave Marlene here and I definitely can't bring her to a place we don't even know what's there..."

Vincent silently agreed to go. So did Yuffie, who thought that she could learn more ninja skills and see a new world at the same time. Cait Sith agreed, too. Cid decided to go as well since he planned that maybe he could build a Rocket Town #2 up there.

"Ho ho hoooo, so the only ones staying would be me, Nanaki and Barret."

Barret was silent, his hands on Marlene's shoulders, whom was fiddling with his necklace in her hands.

"Well," Bugenhagen proceeded, "I'm not entirely sure what's in store for you all... Just bring with you as much provisions as possible for the long, awaited trip."

He took a moment to look at the six people who were going. "I know you all should rest first and then go to the places and people you hold dear... It may be the last time you'll see them."

This kept everyone thinking. But no one changed their decision to continue and begin a new quest and challenge. They all rested at the Cosmo Canyon inn, then set off in different directions.


	3. Bidding Farewell to Furusato

Chapter 3 "Bidding Farewell to Furusato" (furusato-homeland)

Vincent stepped in Lucrecia's cave one last time. He looked over to where he last saw her. He lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"It is time to leave the past... and look into the future. Farewell Lucrecia... the one I loved." He turned on his heel and walked away.

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Yuffie enters the pagoda.

"Father?" "Hey Yuf! You're back! Have you seen the sky?? It looks funny."

Gorki came behind her. Yuffie turned around. "Gorki!"

Out popped Shake, Chekhov and Staniv.

"Shake, Chekhov, Staniv..." Yuffie said, "Where is father?"

"Hm? Yuffie, is that you?" Godo asked, coming out of a room across.

"Have you been training hard while you were gone?"

"Oh yes father!" Yuffie stated with a jump, "I'm the best ninja of all time! I stopped it from being the end of the world with the help of my friends."

Godo nodded his head, "Well, what do you say we have another series of trials. This time, I doubled it, there are 10."

This caught Yuffie off guard, "Oh uhm.. Well, I don't think I'll be able to do that, father. I have another adventure to get to and it's up there in the sky!" she said, pointing up.

"There's a world that's covered over us. And I can't leave my friends. Besides," she said, nudging her toe across the wooden floor, "A new place means new skills, new techniques... And NEW MATERIA!!"

"That's the reason why I came here," Yuffie continued, this time with a solemn face, looking down at the floor, "To y'know. Say goodbye and stuff. I don't know if I'm capable of returning."

A moment later, Godo burst into tears. "Go if you must, my daughter. I'm sure you will truly be the greatest ninja of all time!"

Yuffie let out a sniff. "Thanks, father."

"Here," Godo said, taking something out of his treasure chest, "This is the Five Mighty Gods' materia summon. Very valuable. Keep it safe, this is what I want you to remember us by."

The summon materia was marbled green, yellow, purple, black, orange and red. Yuffie had a look of amazement on her face.

"Gee, this is awesome! I don't know what to say...." She rubbed the back of her head, lost for words. She then found them and looked at Mr. Kisaragi, "Thanks, dad."

With that, she bowed to him and headed for the door. She stopped and took one last look at her father and Gorki, Shake, Chekhov, and Staniv.

"Don't forget about me, Yuffie Kisaragi, the greatest ninja in the whole entire universe!!!" she exclaimed and with that, she ran out the door.

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Cid took in a deep breath, his hands on both sides like he owned the place (which he, in fact, did).

"Damn, I'll miss this place."

"Cid?" Shera came up to him.

"Shera!" Cid directed, " Keep this place up as long as you can. I appoint you captain. I'm leavin', probably for good."

Shera was a bit surprised.

"What? Why? But Captain, we need you here."

Cid turned to look at her, "Dammit woman! There's no space to fly up to. There's another world over us. I'm gonna do some explorin' beyond that shitty coloured sky!"

Shera bowed her head and sighed. "Yes, Captain."

"And stop callin' me that, you dummy. You're the Captain around here now. Do whatever you like. Build another airship, a better submarine. I don't really care. It's up to you to decide."

Shera nodded and said, "Thank you."

"Yeah yeah," Cid waved a hand. He went up to the rocket that was in construction. He patted it,

"I'm gonna miss you."

He then headed for the exit when Shera interrupted,

"Cid...?"

He turned around, "What?"

She bowed her head, "You're a great captain. We will dedicate our ambitions and dreams to you. You will never be forgotten."

For once, Cid was touched. "Thanks Shera. Take care of this place." And with that said, he left.

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Tifa felt a chilly breeze run through her hair. She sat on the well and looked up at the swirly sky, hypnotized. Cloud arrived.

"You came," Tifa said.

Cloud nodded, "Yeah."

He walked up to the well and sat on it beside her.

"She hasn't returned to the planet. I know she's on the other side..." he begun.

Tifa remained silent, and slowly closed her eyes. Then after awhile, she spoke,

"Is that why you wanted to explore the world above us?"

"Yeah. But I also wanted to see what kind it was too," Cloud answered.

He looked at her, "How about you? Why did you wanted to go?"

Tifa's eyes opened but they looked down on the ground. "I'll go wherever you go. Just being by your side is enough for me."

"Tifa..." Her eyes looked off into the distance.

"We might be spending our last time in our hometown, Cloud," she said to him.

"Yeah," he answered, "Despite all the bad memories we had here, I'm gonna miss this place."

Tifa looked at him. "We still have the good ones to hold on to," she said, looking deep into his ocean blue eyes.

She then looked off back into the distance ahead and timidly asked,

"Do you remember the very first time we met?"

Cloud put one hand around his waist and the other holding his chin, in deep thought. There was a flashback showing Nibelheim bathing under the warm, spring sun.

"Now that you mention it... I do."

There was a little blonde-haired boy at the age of 6, who was being picked on by three other boys. Cloud was pushed down to the ground by one of them and the boys walked away laughing at him.

"Spiky headed freak."

A young Tifa, with her hair in pigtails decorated with purple ribbons wearing a purple dress and shoes, came over to Cloud.

"Hi. Are you okay?" She bent down to see.

"I'm fine," Cloud mumbled, and dusted himself off and stood back up.

"Those boys are mean. My dad will tell them off if they bug you again," she told him.

"Here..." she reached out to give him a forget-me-not flower.

"For you. It's a flower. Forget-me-not. Pretty, isn't it?"

He took it and looked at it, "I guess."

Tifa smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Cloud."

"I'm Tifa. You live right next door to me, right?" Cloud nodded.

"Tomorrow, let's go play at the well, okay Cloud?" her head inched closer to see his face.

Cloud was taken aback. He was never asked by any kid to come play with them. He was always picked on by the others because of his name and his hair. But he agreed.

"Okay," he said with a nod. Tifa nodded back, her smile did not fade.

"That's good. I'll see you then!" she went back into her house.

Cloud watched her go and when she closed the door, he looked down at the blue flower he was holding.

(The scene fades) Cloud's head, which was looking up as it usually does when he is reminiscing a memory, looked down to catch Tifa's garnet eyes. They closed and there was another flashback.

A butterfly passed by the town. Two kids were playing at the well. Tifa laughed as Cloud was chasing after her, round and round the well. Cloud was surprised to see how fast she was. He then stopped. So did Tifa, who was on the other side. He began to run. So did Tifa. He stopped. She did too. He started off again. So did Tifa. This time, Cloud switched ways and bumped into her and both fell on their bottoms. They shooked their head and got up.

Tifa giggled. "That was fun."

She climbed up to the top of the well, Cloud followed after standing there watching her. She sat down. Clood stood there, hesitantly.

Tifa smiled at him, "Come... Sit down beside me." He did.

They both looked up at the blue sky.

"This morning," she started, "I saw a cloud outside my window..."

She looked at him, "and it reminded me of you."

A tinge of redness welled up in Cloud's cheeks. He then wondered why she was so interested in him. The other kids thought he was weak and dumb. She didn't seem to think so at all. _...Why?_ Cloud lifted his legs up and down, then had the courage to ask.

"How come you wanted to play with me?" his head turned to look at her.

Tifa bowed her head and looked at her dangling legs. "...Because....."

The memory flashed and faded.

"I forgot what you had told me," Cloud said to Tifa. Tifa gave a weak smile.

"It will come to you later on. I'm surprised you actually remembered all this."

"Yeah. It's good to know that the good memories are coming back to me."

There was a moment of silence and just when Cloud seemed to have realized that Tifa didn't seem to want to tell him what she told him back then and decided to ask her, Tifa jumped off the well and did not turn to look at him.

"...It's time to go." Cloud nodded and jumped off. With one last look at their town, they left.

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"Dammit!"

Barret slammed his fist on the table at the Cosmo Canyon pub, startling everyone as the cups shot up into the air and back down.

"Calm yourself, Barret. You've made the right decision not to go. Marlene needs you here with her," Reeves assured him, who was working on Cait Sith to see if any repairing should be done.

"Yer right. But I can't help it." He turned around in his stool to face Reeves, with his fists under the sides of his jaw, shaking with frustration.

"I really wanna know what's the deal with this new world firs'hand."

He stopped his shaking, put his hands down to his sides and shook his head,

"I'm not the one ter sit back and let others do all the dirty work, waitin' fer them ter come back! That Bugen wannabe said it's possible that they won't. So I could be waitin' forever for them!"

Reeves stopped observing his robot, let out a sigh and turned to face the gun-armed man.

"You still have the night, if you can call it one, to change your mind. If you plan to go, I promise you that I'll take good care of Marlene until you return - that is if you can.

But," Reeves continued, "It's better to stay with her. A safer choice, too. There might be a way to return back here. We just need to find that out. When we do, you'll get to finally check out the outerworld and return to Marlene and tell her your experience."

Barret wrapped his arms around him, his hands on opposite shoulders, thinking. He looked up at Reeves.

"Yeh got a good point there."

He got up from his stool, "Thanx man."

"No problem," Reeves said, who resumed back to working on Cait Sith.

Barret took one last drink from his mug, set it down and said, "I'm gunna go catch some Z's."

"Good night then."

"Yeah," Barret grumbled and left.

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I wrote like..10 chapters for this story of mine... but the only way I'm gonna put all of them up is when I see at least one person begging me to update it XD


	4. Preparations

Wow. I was surprised to see someone commented on my fanfic! Thank you! :) (gives you pocky) That was enough to light a fire under my bottom and update the next chapter!

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Chapter 4 "Preparations"

Everyone gathered at Bugenhagen's laboratory.

"Ho ho hoooo. Everyone here?" He looked around and about.

"Good. I've got a couple of more things to say to you people before you leave," he began,

"Up in my contraption, I saw a couple of men fly up through the sky. This is good news because the sky portal did not shut. So you are capable of coming back for the time being."

This seemed to be VERY good news for Barret.

"Hell yeah! Then I'm goin' wit you guys!" he shouted out loudly.

Bugenhagen continued, "There is bad news, too. Lifestream energy bubbles keep being attracted to the sky's magnetic force. I told you before how humans die and are reborn again. That is still the case, but it will only occur on the outerworld instead. Us, the core, will become extinct unless the people on the outside world would want to come and inhabit this place, which I strongly doubt. I don't think that this sky portal will stay here forever or for a long time for that matter. It will eventually close and who knows what that would do to us. When the water dries up and breathing seems to be greatly difficult due to the scarce oxygen left, we're in trouble."

"So what you're trying to tell us, grandfather, is to evacuate everybody to the outerworld as soon as possible?" Red XIII asked.

Bugenhagen turned to him, "Correct. It is urgent that your crew leave immediately. To explore the outerworld and make sure it is not a threatening or dangerous one. Who knows..." he said, turning his back to them,

"Maybe there are only monters living over us or aliens from another planet."

Yuffie let out a laugh, "Ha ha ha... Aliens."

"Ho ho hoooo. Yes, miss Yuffie. It is quite possible. Now," he continued on,

"Before you leave, I should tell you guys this... Those men who decided to go through the sky.............................died."

"How so?" Nanaki asked. Bugenhagen turned to face the red lion,

"...They drowned."

Everyone jumped.

"Ho ho hoooo. Yes... Beyond that sky portal is the ocean, beyond that is land and beyond that is space. We are the core and soon enough, it will be so. So you all must hurry."

Everyone nodded.

"And you, Nanaki, should go along with them."

Red XIII agreed. "Yes, grandpa. What will you be doing during our absence?"

"I've already sent people to go warn the others. I'm still researching on the sky portal, so I'll be very busy ho ho hoooo."

Cloud stepped up and gave a nod. "Alright, we'll be going now. But the Highwind will be a problem since it is not used to going underwater."

Cid put his hands on his hips, "Heh?? 'Scuse me, am I not a $#& engineer or what?! I'll reconstruct the airship to an air-sub ship in no time!!!"

He ran out of the room. Everyone sighed.

"Wonder how long it will take," Red XIII said to himself.

Bugenhagen started, "You must go with him and make your vehicle suitable for the conditions. Farewell, for now."


	5. A Little Break

Chapter 5 "A Little Break"

Cid was outside of Cosmo Canyon, staring up at the Highwind with his hands on his hips, muttering stuff under his breath. When the others approached, he turned around and said,

"I've got a blue print in my head so I know exactly what to do. But we'll have to head back to Rocket Town for the rebuilding."

"Alright," Cloud responded and everyone boarded the airship and took off in the direction of Cid's home.

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As soon as they arrived in Rocket Town, Cid started talking to everyone and even the newly appointed Captain Shera as if he was still the boss.

"As soon as I leave, you're in charge again. But we need to get this done and over with quickly," he told her.

Shera agreed so she and her workers worked hard and nonstop on the reconstruction with Cid giving directions and helping out here and there.

"This has gotta be perfect," Cid shouted out.

Cloud approached Cid from behind, whom turned to face him,

"The trip to the sky will have to wait for a couple of days, you got that?"

Cloud nodded, and returned to the six who were sitting on the grass.

"It will take a couple of days," he announced to them.

Some were disappointed with the news, but did not protest or complain.

"So go have some fun and relax while they're working on it." And with that, he went to sit next to Tifa, who was being spoken to by Yuffie.

"Look what my dad gave me when I told him that I might not be coming back from the trip... See-see, no touch."

She pulled out the Five Mighty Gods summon materia. Cait Sith came up from behind them to take a peek at it,

"Hmm... Interesting."

"Yeah, I know," Yuffie said, proudly, "I'm gonna go try it out, wanna come see?"

"Sure do," Cait Sith replied.

Yuffie turned to look at him, "I wasn't talking to you, furball. I was talkin' to Teef and spikyhead."

"Why not," Tifa said and she and Cloud followed the skipping Yuffie on the outskirts of town to see it, with Cait Sith following behind snoopily.

This left Barret, Red XIII and Vincent sitting on the ground, watching Cid and his workers rebuild the airship. Barret then looked at Vincent, who was taking a nap under a tree, still looking menacing and sullen and not even aware of it.

"Yo Vincent! Wake up!"

Vincent automatically opened his blood-red eyes, which were cold and emotionless.

"Why don't you, me and Red hit the pub and have a couple o' drinks?"

"I have no time to do such foolishness."

"Yea yea, whatever," Barret said lightly, waving a hand by.

"Mr. Vampire is way too serious to have fun," said Yuffie, who had returned from showing off her summon to Cloud, Tifa and Cait (that was fast, huh? haha). Vincent looked at her nonchalantly,

"Why do you insist on calling me a vampire?"

"You always sleepin' during the day. And I heard that you were found in a coffin. Plus you wear a cape... I won't be surprised if you were capable of transforming into a bat," she told him, arms crossed with her nose in the air.

Vincent stood up.

"Thaa da boy, let's go!" Barret said and they headed off to the pub with Cait Sith tagging along.

"Wait for me guys!! Wanna see my new summon that I just got??" Yuffie yelled after them.

Cloud and Tifa decided to go check in at the inn for the seven.

"Well, there's only five beds," Tifa commented.

Cloud shrugged and rubbed the back of his head, "We'll figure it out later. But we can share a bed, if that's fine with you."

"It's fine," she said with a nod and turned around, "Let's go down to the pub. I'm hungry."

"Me too," he said and they both headed downstairs.

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They entered the pub. Barret greeted them with a lift of his hand, holding a mug.

"Glad yeh two came. Have a drink!"

Red XIII had a bowl of beer in front of him as he sat on a stool and put his paws and head on the counter, snoozing dreamily. Vincent simply sat on a stool and watched the scenery in silence. Yuffie had a funny smile on her face, holding the neck of a bottle of wine. She drank out of it, clumsily, then poured some of it into Cait's tiny mouth and then his Mog's, too.

"Yuffie, what do you think you're doing? You know that Cait Sith's just a robot," Cloud told her.

"Don't worry," Reeves spoke out through Cait Sith. "I programmed him to be a bit more human. A little drink won't hurt or damage his system."

Tifa sat on a stool and called for two drinks and two dishes. Cloud joined her and sat on a stool next to her.

"Looks like everyone's followed your orders - having fun and relaxing."

"Yeah."

She smiled at him. It's been quite awhile since she did that. It was the same smile she gave him when they first met.

"I got you a drink and a japanese dish."

"Thanks."

Their plates came and they ate. The pub was soon only occupied by the crew, but it was very quiet since everyone was snoozing, all but Cloud and Tifa. Cloud was looking at his drink, stirring it with his straw. He felt Tifa's gaze.

"I wish that I had remembered it sooner," he suddenly said to her.

"What?" she asked.

He looked at her, "The first time we met."

He looked back down at his drink, "If I did, it would of really helped me out a lot to get through the problems I had before."

"That was 15 years ago. I myself didn't remember it until yesterday, when we thought it was the last time we were going to spend in Nibelheim," Tifa told him.

"You were the only one who wanted to be my friend... How come?" he asked, looking at her.

"Hey," a voice popped out, which startled Cloud and Tifa.

The bartender came out. "Tell your friends to get out. I'm closin'."

With a little difficulty, they managed to wake everyone up and went into Frubaloo's Inn to their room.

Red XIII slept on one bed. Vincent slept on the next one, as if he was sleeping in a coffin, obviously choosing to sleep on it by himself. Yuffie slept on the third bed, with Cait Sith sleeping right beside her. Barret snored like a foghorn on a bed for himself, leaving one bed.

Cloud lied on it, his hands behind his head. Tifa was on the other side, thinking. Cloud looked over at her, and noticed that she wasn't wearing her gloves. He never saw her hands without the gloves. They were slender and delicate (You would have never thought that they were capable of beating the crap out of anyone XD).

There was a flash of memory. Through thick clouds, a hand appeared as Cloud reached out for it. He was back down to reality and looked at Tifa's hands, which rested on her stomach. They were the exact same ones in his flashback. He looked at her face, her eyes were closed, revealing a spread of a hundred black eyelashes. Her skin was porcelain and ivory. She slept serenely. Unlike the others. Barret was snoring loud as hell. Vincent looked deathly scary. Red growled and purred over and over again. Yuffie was in LaLaland, mouth open, drooling. Cait Sith and his cat snores and "meow's" here and there. His mog gruffly breathed in and out with force.

Cloud thought to himself, glad that he didn't have to sleep with any of them, and soon fell asleep.


	6. The Following Day

Chapter 6 "The Following Day"

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

Cloud opened his eyes to find Tifa's face peering into his. She let out a smile.

"Good morning. Everyone else is up. Come downstairs, there's breakfast."

Cloud got up and followed her down.

"Ohhh mann... I have the worst hangover!!!" Yuffie complained out loud.

"Quit yer whinnin'!" Barret snapped at her,

"I feel great. All that booze really replenished all my strength back!"

Red XIII and Cait Sith seemed to be in good shape, too.

In came Tifa and Cloud.

Barret turned to look at them,

"I'm sure the two of you had a good night's sleep."

Tifa turned away.

"Oh yeah," Cloud replied, unaware of what Barret really meant.

Tifa sat on a stool and Cloud sat beside her. He was getting used to following Tifa and automatically standing or sitting next to her and vice versa. He really liked being by her side and having her by his.

Everyone was eating when Cid came in, the look of exhaustion was written across his face but he still had his bossy attitude,

"We're half-way thru, surprisingly," he told the gang.

"Stayed up the whole night. Complicated and very hard work. But we managed. All we have to do is some major checkup to make sure there ain't no errors with it. Then it's time for the testing."

"That's good," Cloud said.

Cid went to the counter,

"You got that right. Gimme a real hard one!" he yelled over at the bartender, who passed him a mug.

Cid drank in deeply.

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Everyone gathered beside the Rocket area where the workers were working on the newly rebuilt Highwind.

"Everybody," Cid turned to them, lifting both arms in the air.

"This is Cid's first ever air-sub ship!! The Highwind/Lowwater!!!"

Cait Sith clapped sarcastically.

Cid turned his head to the gang.

"Okay, show n' tell is over kids. Go do whatever ya like, we still gotta work on it more."

So they all left.

Cloud and Tifa both sat in the shade, under a tree. Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII and Cait Sith were looking at the two from a distance, with Vincent, as usual, silently watching. Yuffie turned to face the others,

"Yo, you guys. Let's have some fun with Blondie and Tif."

"It's a shame we're not at Gold Saucer. It would have been more fun," Cait Sith remarked.

Barret looked at the cat, with an incredulous look. "Gold Saucer sucked."

"What!" Cait Sith and Mog jumped at the remark, then shook their head, "It is the perfect place for a couple to go to, whether it'd be a date, a honeymoon or a wedding."

Barret roared with laughter, but then stopped to realize that Yuffie had disappeared. He looked around and about.

"Now where did that pest go?"

Red XIII looked up, "Apparently, she is planning to amuse herself with Cloud and Tifa."

They looked on.

Yuffie came out, carrying a huge brown bag, and was huffing and puffing. "Gosh, this is soOo heavy. Hey Tifa! Can ya gimme a hand here or what??" she yelled over at her.

Tifa stood up and took a step forward, "Alright."

Yuffie then stopped and suddenly threw the bag right at Tifa ( "Whoa!" ), who stumbled backwards and landed on Cloud, who caught a hold of her.

Yuffie scampered away, chuckling.

_What the hell was she thinking??_ Cloud thought to himself.

He looked at Tifa from the side, "You okay?"

Tifa nodded and got up to untie the bag. "What in the world is in this bag?"

She opened it and found tools inside.

Cid came storming down from the Rocket area.

"Where the $#& hell is she?!?" he cursed. "That brat stole my tools!!"

Tifa quickly tied up the bag and gave it to him, "We'll handle her once we find her."

Cid mumbled swear words under his breath.

"An' tell her that once I see her, I'm gonna spear her #$$!!"

And with that, he carried away his bag of tools back to the Rocket area.

Tifa shook her head. "Always causing trouble."

Cloud put his hands on the back of his head, leaning against the tree, "Oh well. We'll deal with her later."

Tifa nodded. She took her spot and sat next to him.

Yuffie took her spot with Barret, Red, and Cait.

"That was very unwise and childish," Red XIII told her.

Yuffie shrugged. "Hey! I'm still young. Can't a girl have a little fun around here?"

"Very unromantic," Cait Sith stated.

Yuffie turned to him and got into her fighting stance, "Hey whiskers! You try doing better!!"

Cait smirked. "With the utmost pleasure..."

Barret had enough and got up, "Okay, quit it you two. Stop botherin' them and leave 'em alone!"

"Whatever. I've done my part," Yuffie said, sticking her tongue out at the cat on top of the mog's head and snatched his crown.

"Give it back!" Cait Sith chased Yuffie all around Rocket Town.

When they disappeared, both Barret and Red XIII looked to where Cloud and Tifa were. Red commented,

"They have become quite close after we let them spend the night together just before we headed off to the Crater."

"Yep, they sure did," Barret replied.

The scene shifts to Tifa and Cloud.

Tifa was plucking the petals of a yellow flower in his hand. Cloud was looking off into the distance. As much as they were spending time with eachother now, she still thought that they were distant. She let the last petal fall from her fingertips and looked up ahead with a small sigh.

_He's still thinking about her..._ she thought to herself as she looked at him, who seemed to be in a far, far away place.

Suddenly, Yuffie came running at them and placed the crown on Cloud's head and then ran off. Cait Sith came chasing after her but stopped to take the crown off of Cloud's head and put it on its rightful owner. He apologized ( "Sorry!" ) and ran off to get Yuffie.

Tifa, who was looking at all this commotion, smiled and turned her head away,

"You looked real cute with that crown on."

_That was the first time she told me that.... That I was cute...._

_.......No................... it wasn't..._

A flashback came.

He and Tifa were laughing, playing in Cloud's backyard. They were having fun, playing many games like hide-go-seek. Mrs. Strife came out,

"Cloud! I've made you and your pretty chum some cookies!"

She set them on the table and left while Cloud got hot in the face. Tifa giggled as they went to eat them.

There were cookies of all kinds of shapes. Ginger bread men, stars, suns, flowers, moons, and clouds. But on the top of the pile, there was a single heart-shaped cookie. Tifa took it and broke it in two. She gave him one half and kept the other. Cloud blushed. Tifa giggled.

"You're cute when you do that." And she gave him a peck on the nose, which did not help Cloud's situation at all.

He turned red. Tifa giggled once more and ate her half. Cloud ate his. She smiled.

"Even if the heart is all munched up and inside our tummies, the pieces will always fit together."

"....._Always..."_ end of flashback

Cloud and Tifa both opened their eyes and looked at eachother. They both reminisced at the same time with the same memory.

Barret, Red, and Vincent came up to them.

"Sorry to bug you two, but we're bored and wanted to know if yeh guys are up for fightin'."

Tifa nodded and stood up, as well as Cloud, and so they all headed off near the outskirts of the town.

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Cloud wasn't really happy when Barret interrupted them. Tifa, on the other hand, did not mind. She never knew how straightforward she was with her feelings towards Cloud back then when she was young. How she started to clam up, she had no idea.

"Awright, let's do this!!" Barret shouted.

The gang spent just over an hour battling against monsters and then they headed in to eat.

"I'm $!?#$& hungry! Gimme three burgers, two pizzas an' a pack o' beer!" Barret yelled, slamming his hand on the counter.

As usual, Cloud seated himself next to Tifa. He was gazing at her. Tifa took no heed to notice since she was too absorbed in her own thoughts.

_Wonder what Cloud thought of the memory..._ She lifted her head and turned to see Cloud staring at her.

She recalled the first time they met after Sephiroth had burned down their home. He wasn't the Cloud she knew. He looked at her with cold, uncaring eyes. But as she looked into his eyes now, it was different, somehow. She pointed that out to him.

"Your eyes are... different."

"How?"

"I don't know," she looked down at the counter. "They used to be cold when I looked into them. But now it doesn't."

She turned to face him again. "I can see you. But I sense that it will fade away."

She looked deep into his eyes, like she was seeing something for the first time....

_Him? Yes him. Cloud. Cloud Strife. Cloud from Nibelheim._

The food came so Tifa took her eyes off him and started to eat. Cloud looked at his plate. He wasn't in the mood to eat.

Cait Sith, who was sitting beside Tifa, was drinking deeply into his glass of fruit punch but jumped when Yuffie slapped Mog hard on the back,

"How's it goin', furball?!"

Cait and Mog yelped and the cat dropped his glass and spilled the juice all over Tifa's white top. Cloud thought it looked like blood, which really disturbed him.

"Sorry Tifa! It was unintentional. Yuffie came up from behind me and gave me a scare," Cait Sith explained, earnestly.

"Y**Uu**fi_eee_..." Tifa sternly said, giving her a warning.

"Gee, I really didn't mean it, Tifa, I swear!" and Yuffie scampered off.

"(sigh) I guess I'll go change," Tifa said, and left.

Cait Sith peered into Tifa's dish. Cloud watched him. When Cait noticed, he jumped and asked nervously,

"Oh! Uhm.. Is it uh, okay if Mog eats it. He's real hungry, y'know."

Cloud looked at her plate. It almost looked as if she hadn't touched it at all. Cloud got off his seat,

"Fine. Go ahead. You can have mine too," and he left to go find Tifa, leaving Cait Sith and Mog munching away at the counter.


	7. A Promise to Carry Out Together

Yo! Rikku here. Whoopie! I got three reviews. I feel so special. :) Eto... I might as well answer them!

WildfireDreams: kukuku.... thankies! :hands you a cookie:

Emzies-and-mog: I'm a humongo Cloti fan too ya know! So ofcourse, this fanfic will definitely have a whole bunch of CloudxTifa moments so don't you worry! Heh heh, it'll take awhile for FF9 to come into the picture, but we'll eventually get there. XD

Sweet Ruby Moon: Ruby-sama found me! :huggles: heh heh, gee... I never knew I could write fanfics lol :rubs back of head: You should play some FF-goodness, they're the greatest things ever! I really appreciate you reading my fanfic anyway, it made Rikku-chan very happy! :D Yesh.. Sess/Kik, gotta write one about them later!

Alrighty then! Now that answering the reviews are done, I will proceed on with the next chapter! It's super short. I honestly feel that I'm not writing my story in the proper grammatical structure kind of way............ :shakes head and slaps face to wake up: Feel free to review because I will answer each and every one of them since I have no life whatsoever, gwahaha! Okies, enjoy!

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Chapter 7 "A Promise to Carry Out Together"

Cloud went in the inn and entered his room. He found Tifa arranging and packing her things up. She wore a plain, black vest.

"Hey Tifa..." Cloud began. She looked up at him,

"I'm packing up my equipment and provisions that I need. I went over to Shera's house and she gave me this top since she said she never wore it anyways. She told me that by early tomorrow, the air-sub ship will be ready."

"That's good," he said.

Tifa nodded and turned her back to him, resumed to packing up. Cloud sat on a bed near Tifa and watched her for a moment.

"I can see you. But I sense that it will fade away." Cloud remembered these words Tifa told him and wondered about it. He wanted to ask her what she meant by that but decided to leave her alone since she was busy packing. He sighed and laid on the bed, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.

There was another flashback. Cloud and Tifa were sitting at the well, legs lifting up and down occasionally in silence.

"Cloud," Tifa started. He looked at her,

"Yeah?" he responded.

"Do you think you'll be staying here all your life?"

Cloud looked down and thought about it for a moment.

"I dunno. The world is big. And I wanna get a chance to travel all around it."

Tifa looked at him and asked,

"Can I come with you?"

Cloud nodded, "It's dangerous, but I'll take care of you, don't worry."

"You promise?"

Cloud gave a sure nod.

"I promise."

(back to present scene)

"I guess that promise was kept," Tifa said, sitting on another bed across.

Cloud looked at his feet, "Yeah." He looked at Tifa,

"We were really something back then. Funny how we completely forgot about these memories... They were the most important."

Now it was Tifa's turn to look at her feet. _'He's changed...'_ she thought to herself. She recalled back at the crater, where the only thing that concerned him was Aeris. He hadn't mentioned her for three days. _'That will change, though... Soon, he will completely forget about the memories that we had shared and me...'_ Tifa closed her eyes.

"Tifa..?"

She opened her eyes.

"Been a bit drifty lately. Are you alright?" Cloud asked.

She looked at him. After a thoughtful pause, she took a deep breath and spoke,

"You really think that they were really important?"

"What?"

"The memories."

"Ofcourse." Cloud then asked her,

"Did you remember any of them before?"

Tifa paused for a moment.

"The one about the promise to travel around the world together."

"You know, come to think of it, we're not done with that yet," Cloud added,

"We still got the outerworld to do."

Tifa looked at him and nodded,

"Right."

Barret entered the room, followed by the others. He stretched out his arms, let out a yawn, and looked at Cloud and Tifa.

"Hey you two. Tifa, could ya move onto Cloud's bed? The one you're sitting on is mine."

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GWAHAHA!! Well, that ended nicely. lol Barret cracks me up sometimes XD

Sorry if any of you really hate reading pure dialogues. I know that I tend to have a ton of conversation between the characters, but that's what you get when you play the game. That's what I wanted to do, by making this fanfic seem like you're actually playing the game! And yeah, isn't it weird that Cloud and Tifa remember their own memories together at the exact same moment in time??? lol I'm criticizing my own work. (sigh) Oh well, I just find it amusing to poke fun at it because I'm simply a very bizarre girl.

So yep. I'll be heading off somewhere... OO Sayonara! :waves goodbye and runs off: 


	8. The takeoff

Dang. I forgot to put up a disclaimer all this time. Well, I'm pretty sure it's obvious that I don't own these characters and that they all belong to SquareEnix's Final Fantasy 7 and 9. So much for the late disclaimer... baka ne (bangs head against comp. screen)

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Chapter 8 "The take-off"

Everyone got prepared as soon as they woke up and boarded onto the Highwind/Lowwater ship.

"After all the shedding of our blood, sweat, and tears, it all paid off!" Cid said aloud. "Now enough with my chattin', watch this baby take off!!"

The engine turned on and they were flying up to the sky.

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All they could see were green swirls and many energy bubbles. It seemed as if they were going through an endless whirl when they suddenly came up into a blanket of dark blue water. Cid instructed the crew workers to put the ship on sub mode. They did so and they slowly weaved through the thick water, upwards.

Yuffie, who was shaking a bit since she didn't like going on any kinds of vehicle, felt queasy. She looked out of the window to see something BIG coming towards the ship. Yuffie's eyes widened and she jumped with a yelp. Cait Sith came beside her,

"Hey Yuf. What's up? What are ya lookin' at?" as he and his Mog both put their hands/paws on the window, their noses pressed against the glass.

"Ahhhh!!!!!"

Cait Sith and his Mog jumped and waved their arms wildly. "Monster! Monster!! Monster!!!" His Mog ran all over the place, in a panic. Cid turned around to see that he was right. "Holy $ht!!" He turned and shouted over to his crew members,

"Hit it on acceleration, FULL SPEED! Activate the sonic blast on the rear. Kids, better hold on tight."

The sub suddenly kicked in and drove at maximum speed, cutting through the water like a knife. However, the monster was still not far behind.

"It's gainin' on us, mann!!" Yuffie exclaimed.

With a thunderous roar coming out from the enormous creature's throat, it went full speed and bumped the ship.

"How far are we from the surface?" Cid asked.

"We're not too far, sir. At this rate, with the speed of the sub, in about four minutes, we'll reach it."

Cid looked back, "Shit."

The monster attacked and dented the sub. Cid was furious, with his fists in the air,

"$#?& !! I'm gonna whoop his $$ once we get to the surface!"

"Sir, we're gonna put the ship in vertical point to make the ride quicker."

"Alright you guys. Hold on to somethin'."

The sub was in vertical position. Tifa held onto the bar with her arm. So did Cloud, who was right next her. Barret was beside them, one hand on the bar and his arm around Yuffie's neck. She was waving her arms up and down madly. Vincent held onto the bar with ease. Red XIII was at the top, watching up ahead. Cait Sith was holding onto Mog's head, who was dangling, his paws holding onto the bar, mouth wide open shaped as a circle. The monster sped up but got caught by the sub's fire burning at the bottom in the face. It roared and banged the sub with its tail. The ship toppled on the side. The monster banged once more against the glass. Cracks appeared.

"How much longer?" Cid demanded, impatiently.

"Almost there. One minutes, sir."

The ship twirled and reached it's vertical position again.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Yuffie said, covering her mouth with both hands, turning into a shade of green.

The monster banged hard against the glass as more cracks appeared. Another bang came and it toppled the ship off balance once more. Tifa closed her eyes tightly shut. The ship regained its balance and sunlight shone through the water. Out splashed the ship to the surface, and out came the monster that flew out and hovered above the air/sub ship.

It had gigantic brown, hole-tattered wings that batted against the wind hard. It had huge, red claws and four horns on its head. It resembled a dragon. However, it looked more oceanic than firy and did not blow fire out of its nose. Its skin was bluish-purple. It was an amphibian dragon. ((Snort) Yeah.. great description, huh?) The battle was not difficult, but it did take quite awhile for its fall. When it was defeated, the crew workers started repairing the damage that was done. Cid has his hands on his hips, a cigar burning in his mouth. Yuffie did not look well at all. Neither did Cait Sith, so both sat in their separate corner. Vincent had his arms around himself, sitting broodingly. Red XIII looked out into the distance, but only saw the sky and water surrounding the ship. Barret talked to Cloud for a bit,

"That goddamn monster. It basically ruined our trip!" he said, fists waving crazily in the air.

"Least we all came in one piece. Besides, I'm sure the damages weren't too severe," Cloud reassured him. He then looked on and about,

"Where's Tifa?" Barret looked around, too,

"Now wherre she gone to?"

Cloud went to search for her as Barret watched him go, deciding to let Cloud spend the time alone with her.

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Tifa was on top of the ship, gazing at the ocean that the ship was engulfed in. Cloud came out and saw her, so he went and sat next to her.

"The ocean looks beautiful, doesn't it?" Tifa asked him, holding up her drawn knees close to herself.

He nodded, "Yeah..."

She looked down, "...Reminds me a lot of your eyes."

He looked at her. A flash came..

"I saw a cloud outside my window... And it reminded me of you."

"How come you wanted to play with me?"

"Because..."

(Scene goes to where Tifa and Cloud are sitting at the well together)

Tifa looked down at her dangling legs.

"I like you."

Her porcelain skinned cheeks turned rosy.

"Huh?"

Cloud was completely taken aback and felt his face reddening. He then bobbed his head from side to side and asked,

"Why..?"

She turned to look at him. "I dunno... I just do......... " She paused and then added,

"You're different from the rest."

(Scene fades in a flash and returns to present scene)

Cloud looked at Tifa. She showed no sign of reminiscing with him this time.

_'Maybe she already knew before...'_ Cloud thought to himself. His mind was buzzing. He sighed and looked down... _'So she liked me. That was why she wanted to spend time with me. And when her mother died, she was too lost in her emotions to even notice me. I wanted to regain back her attention. Why? .... Because I had returned the feelings she had for me back to her.'_ Cloud peered very closely into Tifa's face.

"Hey!" Cid came out.

"Get back inside, we're done repairin'! Now it's time to find some land!"

He ran back in.

Tifa and Cloud went in to find Cid in the middle of making an announcement.

"Alright. We're in the middle of the ocean. If I'm not right, the ship's map shows us that we are approximately 479 kilometres away from land. We ain't gonna waste no time. We head southeast. Let's move it!" Cid shouted to the crew members.

They all saluted him ("Yes, sir!") and followed his orders. The engine started and Highwind flew into the air. 


	9. Arrival in Alexandria

Okay.. I hope that when I replace chapters, it doesn't show up for on the Author Alert because then I must have really annoyed the one who put me on their watch list! I can't help it, it's an addiction editing your work and replacing chapters!! I'm kind of a perfectionist and everytime I reread my story, I always find the smallest mistakes (mistakes that are too horrid to leave alone and let everyone read!). I'm still a newbie on this one, and my notepad is screwing around with me for some odd reason. So my apologies for replacing chapters constantly. :bows head:

:sweatdrop: Mann.... do I make Barret sound like Hagrid or what!? O.o

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Chapter 9 "Arrival in Alexandria"

"An hour doing nothing but sitting around in this airship!" Cait Sith moaned and shook his head, his Mog mimicking his gestures.

Yuffie said nothing but was trembling unceasingly, fairing much worse than before. Red XIII looked after her while Tifa worked in the kitchen (yep. Cid and his crew members decided to build a kitchen in the ship in order to enjoy Tifa's fine cookery ), making a concoction that would cure Yuffie's sickness. Barret started yapping away at Vincent while the cloaked man silently listened, seemingly. Cloud entered the kitchen.

"Need any help?"

"Could you pass me a cup of dried, green tea leaves, please? It's on the second row of the cupboards. Third to the left."

He opened the cupboard door and found it. He took the box labeled "Grrreat Green Tea Leaves For You!" and handed it to Tifa.

"Thanks", she said as she dumped some into the steaming pot.

She turned the heat off from under it and poured the concoction into a cup. They walked out of the kitchen to where Yuffie laid, who was being closely watched by Red XIII.

"Here, Yuffie. Drink this," Tifa said.

Yuffie slowly got up, took the cup and drank it all down.

"You have been causing quite some trouble back at Rocket Town. It seemed as if it came back to give you a lesson," Tifa told her, sitting on her knees, hands on lap. Yuffie looked up then sighed and bowed her head.

"I'm real sorry. Thanks for the tea, Tifa. I feel much better now."

Tifa got up, "You're welcome."

Yuffie pranced off with a chuckle but accidentally bumped into Barret and landed right on her bottom.

"Watch it #$&$&!!" Barret spewed angrily, raising his arms to show his bad temper.

Yuffie shook her head, stood up, pulled a finger over her eye and stuck a tongue at Barret, then took off. The big man with the gunarm sighed with a shake of the head and looked at the woman with the long, black dolphin hair,

"Hey Tifa. Could ya make us somethin' to eat? I'm hungry."

Tifa nodded and walked towards the kitchen.

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The food was delicious. When they were done, Cid had told everyone that they had finally reached land and will only give everyone five minute to prepare. Seeing as how Tifa was already ready, she decided to walk around the air/sub ship and look at its new, renovated state. Yuffie was playfully being rude at Cait Sith as Red XIII observed with a she'll-never-learn-to-stop look smeared across his face. Barret proceeded with his blabbering at Vincent again.

"So whut ya gonna do when yeh get on land?"

"Start a new beginning in life."

"You not gonna miss anythin' from Earth?"

"My past lies behind me."

Cloud came by and both Barret and Vincent looked at him. The spiky, blonde-haired man seemed to be searching for something.

"Yo Cloud! What are ya doin'?" Barret asked him.

Cloud looked at him, "I'm just looking for -- - -" Cid came out of the conductor's hangout,

"Hey peeps! Let's go to the main room!"

Everyone gathered to find a big surprise up ahead of them.

"Wow..." Cait Sith said, in complete awe.

Cloud walked up to the very front and held onto the bars. He was soon joined by the rest of the crew. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Surrounded by thick, puffy clouds was a city atop a steep cliff. Filled with many towns, there, in the center, lied a grand and royal castle which was the nucleus of the whole city.

"Land on the outskirts!" Cid commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

"Sum view, eh?" Barret commented.

There was an abrupt flash. Cait Sith had just taken a picture of the beautiful city with his camera before it went out of sight.

"Hoof! That picture'll be somethin'!"

"It is quite a magnificent sight," Red XIII admitted.

"This place is filled with spoiled, rich asses," Cid bluntly stated, not impressed at all.

"Royal people live there? Sheesh... They think they're so cool.." Yuffie said with disdain.

Cait Sith began to ponder. "Hmmm... Y'know.. We're gonna be stared at big-time walking around there with the clothes that you guys wear."

"I wear whatever I goddamn wanna wear! There ain't no way I'm gonna wear stupid, rich clothes!!" Barret hollered.

"I think Vincent needs the ultimate change. He'll scare all the people away," Yuffie remarked. The ex-Turk showed no sign of being hurt, let alone show any awareness to the fact that he had just been insulted.

"We'll simply tell 'em that we're foreigners, what else??" Cid simply said.

"I doubt that your response won't raise any suspicion," Red XIII countered.

"Yah! They'll call the soldiers and arrest us for looking funny!" Cait Sith added in. Nanaki let out a sigh of mild fatigue and turned to the leader of the group,

"Cloud, you're still considered the one in charge. What do you think we should do?"

"We ain't got no time to buy rich clothes!!" Barret protested.

"We'll set off right now. It'll be too much of a hassle to fit in with the crowd. We'll make an excuse of some sort," Cloud said.

"Awright! Now let's head out!!" Barret impatiently exclaimed and ran out.

Everyone nodded and followed him. Vincent and Yuffie were the last of the pack.

"Hmph. It seems like you got away with your silly, little costume of yours," Yuffie said in an accused fashion.

Yuffie couldn't bear the silence and ran off,

"Creep!"

Vincent said nothing and followed her out.

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haha.. Yuffie cracks me up sometimes. XD Well, I hope it wasn't too boring for you guys. I leave here to put up the next chapter! :swish: 


	10. A New World

Chapter 10 - "A New World"

The gang entered the city and found themselves in a town. There were ordinary people who spoke English, though their clothes were indeed proper and clean, unlike the crew's. What surprised them was the fact that there were animals that acted like humans. They included horses, rats, pigs, hippopotamus, birds, goats, dogs, and many more. They spoke, walked on two legs, and wore human attire. A little boy came up to Cloud and company,

"You guys must be from out of town."

"Yeah," Cloud replied. Barret stepped up to ask a question,

"Say, uh, kid. What's the name o' this place?" The boy looked up at the gunarmed man.

"Alexandria town."

"An' what's this planet called?" Barret suddenly imposed. The boy jumped at that question,

"What planet are YOU from?!" and ran away after giving him and the group a quizzical look.

"Good job! Now he's gonna tattle tale on us and say how we're nuts and then we'll get arrested, thanks to you!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Calm down, Yuffie," Red XIII jumped in. He then turned to Barret,

"That wasn't clever. We mustn't ask these people any questions out of the ordinary or else it'll lead us to trouble."

Cloud nodded, "That's right." He turned to face everyone.

"Time to look around. We'll split up into pairs. If anything bad happens, we can contact eachother through the PHS. Let's meet back here at this fountain in 5 hours."

Nanaki and Yuffie paired up, so did Cait Sith and Cid, and Barret and Vincent. That automatically left Cloud with Tifa.

"Alright. See you all then," Cloud said, and they all parted in separate ways.

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Barret was in Burgie's Pub, sitting at the counter drinking. Vincent sat quietly, watching him. The bartender looked at him and asked Barret,

"You know him?" Barret looked up at him and bluntly replied,

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, for one, he's scaring my customers away..."

"So? Whaddya want me to do about it?"

The bartender simply let out a sigh and resumed to wiping mugs. Barret put down his mug and looked at Vincent.

"Why you here anyway? Aren't ya gonna go look around?"

"This place does not interest me," the cloaked man replied, calmly.

"Nothin' does," Barret said, shaking his head and went back to drinking.

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Yuffie went up to a young hippo, dressed in overalls and had a tuft of hair on his fat head.

"Hey Hippoboy," she called out to him. He turned around to face her and his face instantly lit up,

"Hiya! Wanna play tetra with me??"

"Tetra? What's that?"

"It's a card game!! Everyone knows what Tetra Master is!" the hippoboy told her, in disbelief. Yuffie jumped,

"Oh er- Well.. I'm a traveller.. Yeah, that's right."

The hippoboy shook his head. "No wonder. Here, let me teach you..."

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Cid put his hands on his hips. Cait Sith walked up to him.

"Not my type of place, I can tell ya that!" Cid said.

"You'll find a place to call Rocket Town #2 eventually," Cait Sith assured him.

(screen moves to show Yuffie sitting on the ground, the hippoboy across from her)

"Dammit! Why do I keep losing?!" Yuffie exclaimed, frustrated.

"Hey Yuffie!" Cait said, going up to her.

"Whatcha doin'? Oooh! A card game, huh? Lemme see..." he said and sat down to join them.

Cid shook his head, "Whatever. I'm goin' to the pub."

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"Hey. Did you see that scary-looking guy with the red cape?"

"Yah. He has a claw for a hand!!"

"He's a vampire, look at his eyes!!"

Kids nearby whispered to eachother as they saw Vincent brooding through the street. Red XIII came from the other side, spotted Vincent and ran towards him.

"Have you seen Yuffie?"

"She's playing a card game with Cait Sith and a talking hippo."

"Oh, I see. Where's Barret?"

"The pub. Cid's in there, too."

(camera goes to Burgie's Pub as you can hear the two men making a huge racket inside with their ranting and singing)

"I guess the pairings haven't been separated after all."

"Supposedly."

There was a brief pause as Nanaki's tail swayed from side to side. "Well, let's go look around then."

They both walked on.

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Mwahaha! Wasn't that an awkward moment between Red XIII and Vincent or what?! hehe Vincent's cool in my fanfic. :glomps him: And Yuffie's pretty funny, eh? She's been introduced to Tetra Master!!!! I had no clue how to play the game but I always beat the crap out of the person I was pitted against eeeeverytime. Poor Yuf.. she's having problems winning against Hippoboy lol. Well :stretches: That's all the chapters I had prepared so far. Dunno when I'll plan to continue this. Although it's not that urgent since this fanfic seems to be pointless anyways. It was fun while it lasted. I honestly did not expect anyone to R&R but I'm very very happy that three people did!! : ) If I'm feeling nonsense-ish, then I'll work on this. But I would like to start another fanfic (centered on Sesshoumaru/Kikyou pairing from Inuyasha) because that's where my heart is really set on right at this moment. So once again, I thank you three ppl: **WildfireDreams**, **Emzies-and-mog**, and **Sweet Ruby Moon**!!! You all get pocky and chocolate!! :showers it over the three heads:

Time to go now. See ya everyone!

Thief Rikku 


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